You have two distinct options here – this dive site provides a healthy, if fairly flat, multi-coloured reef packed with nudibranchs and sponges (especially red ones). Just offshore, past a pair of oil-drum markers, hang a slight left and follow the bottom down to about 18m. You should see a reef on your left.

Even with slightly flatter topography than you&rsquor;ll see at most Aqaba dive sites ...

This reef grows atop an ancient coral shelf, with fairly consistent depth sloping away gradually on top, but steep sides that drop sharply from 18 to 30m, forming a mini-wall and canyon along some sections of the reef.

If we were recreational divers, we’d start at the bottom of the ‘wall’, and work our way up in a loop over the reef. We see stingrays, napoleonfish, groupers and black corals among the sea fans and sponges as we fin with the mild tidal current that runs through the sandy channel beside the reef.

Rising to the top of the reef we pass through shoals of reef fish and Yellowstone opens up before us – a wide, clear, underwater meadow.

... Yellowstone Reef is fantastically healthy and diverse&period;

On this dive, though, we’re geared for tec – so let’s head a little deeper (realistically, of course, we’d simply make our descent over deeper water). Following the sandy bottom down past 30m, we keep the reef on our left as we pass 3 deep pinnacles – we’ll probably see some larger fish species feeding here (but sharks are uncommon in Aqaba).

Yellowstone Reef houses a fantastic variety of marine life from the shallows to tec diving depths ...

Once we get down to around 50m, depth starts to increase more sharply. Sea fans and other corals grow strong and colourful here, and there are many pinnacles, canyons, and archways to explore. So many, in fact, that there’s a lot of exploration left to do in this area.

... and is one of Aqaba&rsquor;s most vibrant fish nurseries for a wide range of reef species&period;

That said, its overall topography and conditions make Yellowstone Reef a great site for Tec Deep training, advanced exploration, and Advanced certifications as well as an engaging and memorable dive.

Just offshore and directly in front of Aqaba&rsquor;s electricity plant – the Power Station – we find a colourful reef of small hard corals in only a few metres of water&period; Growth quickly increases in size and shifts to massive soft-coral formations as we follow the reef&rsquor;s gentle slope downward&period;Around 30m&comma; the bottom drops away&mldr;

It&rsquor;s hard to miss this one – you can see it from shore&period; We&rsquor;ll need to be careful of the fire corals as we enter this sheltered site right next to Aqaba Marine Reserve&period; We&rsquor;re immediately treated to a stunning variety of sights&comma; and it only gets better&mldr;

We could dive this site from shore&comma; but let&rsquor;s take a boat – it&rsquor;s easier&period; First Bay South&rsquor;s topography is highly varied&comma; so we&rsquor;d end up swimming out to the mooring buoy to get oriented anyway&period; Heading down the line&comma; we see an undulating&comma; kaleidoscopic reef and some kind of a rope running along the bottom&mldr;

She almost ended up at extreme depth&comma; but luckily the Al Shorouk&rsquor;s 2008 scuttling ended up going pretty close to plan&period; This pristine wreck now lies on her starboard side&comma; straddling two reefs just beyond Eel Canyons with a marker buoy attached to her bow&period; Although the water here is exceptionally clear&comma; that&rsquor;s all we can see for now – let&rsquor;s descend into the blue&mldr;

This site gets its name from the black rocks scattered in front of the reef&comma; near the shoreline – we&rsquor;ll use those as entry markers and follow the sandy bottom down to the reef at 12m&comma; where a true underwater kaleidoscope awaits&mldr;

Covering this large&comma; varied&comma; and very healthy set of 3 finger reefs in a single dive is just about impossible&period; You could easily use your whole tank exploring a single coral head for frogfish&comma; crocodilefish&comma; and nudibranchs&comma; surrounded by fusiliers – but there&rsquor;s always something new just ahead&comma; and the reef extends well beyond sight&mldr;

It&rsquor;s rare to see such a photogenic shipwreck so close to shore – you can even see her from the surface&excl; Would you like to dive down to the Cedar Pride&comma; or watch her fade in from the blue&quest; Either approach is equally impressive as the 30-year-old shipwreck is truly a sight to behold&mldr;

There&rsquor;s no way you could call this site anything else&period; You&rsquor;ll see dozens of garden eels poking out of their holes in the sandy bottom between large coral heads&period; And don&rsquor;t forget the ‘S&rsquor; on ‘canyons&rsquor;&excl; A labyrinth of fossil reef ravines swarming with life awaits us – we&rsquor;ll start at the oil drum marker and dive into &lpar;or over&rpar; the underwater jungle&mldr;

A Gorgon is a mythical creature with hair made of living snakes &lpar;the most famous one is Medusa&rpar;&period; Guess where gorgonian corals got their name&quest; This site is one of a pair and takes its name from the single&comma; massive gorgonian fan coral waving imposingly over a thriving reef that extends beyond of sight&mldr;

You&rsquor;d never know this was part of the same reef as its sister site&comma; Gorgon I – that is&comma; until you notice the same striking fan corals protruding defiantly from the surrounding reef&period; There&rsquor;s plenty to see before we get that far&comma; though&comma; and this site offers some very different topography from her Gorgon sister&mldr;

Not too far off the Cedar Pride&comma; this site gets its name from its many large coral heads which some say resemble ancient Japanese pagodas&period; But they&rsquor;re far from the site&rsquor;s only attraction&period; Following a short swim over grass&comma; accompanied by morays and scorpionfish&comma; you&rsquor;ll arrive at a pinnacle at about 10m&period; That&rsquor;s where the show really begins&mldr;

This site&comma; named after King Abdullah II&comma; offers some of the finest diving in the Northern Red Sea&period; Since the reef starts several hundred meters offshore&comma; we&rsquor;re best to take a boat here – but we&rsquor;ll need to moor outside the central reef&comma; as it&rsquor;s a magnificent coral atoll surrounded by shallow hard corals&mldr;

Recently discovered by &lpar;and named for&rpar; a New Zealander on vacation&comma; Kiwi Reef offers a variety of dive conditions and life&comma; making it a favourite for explorers&comma; photographers&comma; and students alike&period; Experience a unique ecosystem at each of over a dozen pinnacles rising from the seagrass&comma; or head offshore to explore the main reef&mldr;

With its density of red soft corals punctuated by bright blue branches and gradual&comma; sloping reef&comma; it&rsquor;s easy to see why this site takes its name from a famous desert valley in Wadi Rum&period; The resemblance ends here–as we begin our descent we&rsquor;re immediately surrounded by life&comma; large and small&mldr;

This deep&comma; coral-walled canyon was discovered after the Aqaba Earthquake in 1983&period; Keep a sharp eye out–life here is vibrant at all levels of the food chain and changes with depth&comma; thriving on an ancient fossil reef that descends to 35m before dropping suddenly into the open blue&mldr;

If you&rsquor;re into wall diving&comma; this is your spot&period; We&rsquor;ll need to gear up in the boat here&comma; as shore access is blocked by a new resort&period; But that&rsquor;s OK – the mooring buoy puts us right over the dive site for a simple descent down the line into open-sea paradise&mldr;

While colourful and active during the day&comma; the easily-navigable Rainbow Reef – whose shape matches its name – really comes alive at night&period; When the sun goes down&comma; Rainbow Reef is the place to be&mldr;

As we make our descent over a thriving seagrass bed prowled by lionfish&comma; scorpionfish&comma; and several species of seahorse&comma; we&rsquor;ll quickly discover how this site gets its nickname&mldr;

This site&rsquor;s every bit as spectacular as the clusters of stars &lpar;and related ancient legends&rpar; from which its name is derived&period; With 7 main pinnacles and another side cluster to explore&comma; all in under 10m of water&comma; there&rsquor;s so much life to see here and&comma; due to its shallow depth&comma; so much time to see it that both novice and veteran divers often enjoy long&comma; repetitive dives here with a different story to tell each time&mldr;

Back in 1999&comma; the Jordanian Royal Ecological Diving Society set their eyes on a big prize&colon; an M42 “Duster&rdquor; anti-aircraft tank&period; And they got it&period; Thankfully&comma; instead of using it to enforce diving regulations&comma; they had the military clean and scuttle it&comma; creating an unusual and thriving artificial reef for snorkelers and divers&mldr;

The mission of Arab Diver is to provide the best experience for divers. The diving team focuses on providing professionalism and quality diving courses. Additionally, they have a niche for customer service and environmental leadership. Snorkeler, novice and experienced divers have the chance to discover the world class diving of the Red Sea Safari from boat or shore.;

There is a new attraction for the divers and visitors to the South Beach from all over the world: The C-130 Hercules was officially scuttled. The sunken aircraft is close to shore in moderate depth and makes a fascinating new and additional wreck dive in the clear waters of Aqaba.